


Irreplaceable

by ClaudiaRain



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Humor, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 07:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8392207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaudiaRain/pseuds/ClaudiaRain
Summary: It takes a trip back to Earth-2 for Harrison Wells to realize where his true home - and family - are.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fun idea I had after 3x04. This won't fit with canon very long, I'm sure! Thanks to Tavyn for the title and for her encouragement - as always!

Harrison Wells stepped through the breach and looked around for a brief moment before his eyes stopped on Caitlin Snow. It wasn’t hard for her to draw his attention (and not just because she was the only other person in the room).

“What a welcome back party,” he said, dryly. “I can see you all missed me.”

“Hey, I’m here,” she said, sounding slightly hurt. “The others were going to be here, too, but a bunch of things came up. Besides, it’s not like you’ve been gone long. What’s it been…a week?”

“Eight days,” he corrected, sharply, looking her over to see if anything had changed, but nope, she seemed exactly the same as when he’d left (to his immense relief).

“Seems like a lot longer than eight days,” she said, then shook her head slightly. “What’d you think? That we’d have burned the building down by now?”

“I wouldn’t put it past any of you,” he said, walking by her to leave the room and starting on an impromptu self-tour of S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin trailed along after him as he stopped in each room, checking that things were exactly the way they were supposed to be – i.e., exactly how he’d left them.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” she finally asked.

“Not really. Just any clues that something might have changed,” he explained, as he turned down the hallway that would lead to the main control room. “We all know how much Allen loves to go back in time and screw things up, especially when I’m not here to keep him in line.” He was getting more worked up. “And we know HR wouldn’t be any help, he’d probably cheer him on and be like ‘Yeah, Barry, go run to wherever you want in the timeline, let’s see if the world explodes!’”

He heard Caitlin stop walking somewhere behind him. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “Barry’s never gone back in time.”

He spun around so fast that he nearly fell and reached out to put his hand on the wall – whether to keep his balance or to stop from collapsing, he couldn’t say. “ _What_?”

She bit her lower lip to suppress a smile. “I’m kidding, Harry.”

He pointed at her, angrily. “That’s not funny, Snow. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Her expression indicated she thought he was being over-dramatic, as usual. “Are you forgetting that if anything _had_ changed the timeline, I most likely wouldn’t know?”

“Excellent point, I’ll have to keep checking.” He resumed walking and she rushed to keep pace with him.

“Barry promised he wouldn’t do it again,” she said. “I trust him.”

“That makes one of us,” he told her, flippantly. “And before you get any ideas, don’t say any more strange things that make me question if we might be in a divergent timeline. Not unless you want me to send _you_ out into the multi-verse.”

“I’m terrified,” she laughed, which wasn’t the reaction he wanted from her. “I have to give you _some_ grief, don’t I? After all, you’re the one who chose to leave us.”

“Because I had to go back.”

“And how is it there?”

His glanced over, eyes lingering on her for a moment. “It’s…different.”

“That’s how I’d describe it here without you,” she said, quietly, then perked up a little. “The bright side is if we ever feel something’s lacking with one version of you, we can always go find another one.”

“Glad to know I’m so easily replaceable.”

“You’re the one who came up with the idea,” she reminded him, for the umpteenth time and he _really_ hated it when people brought that up.

“That doesn’t mean that replacing me is funny,” he muttered, as they reached the main room. He began looking over everything with extra scrutiny.

“It’s a little funny,” she protested.

“Why would you need yet another Harrison Wells?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “You already have HR.”

“Oh yeah,” she beamed, “we sure do.”

He didn’t question what she meant by that because he was sure, based on how cheerfully she’d spoken, that he’d despise the answer.

He took a seat at one of the computers and started typing, checking out anything he could think of that might have changed. Thankfully, everything seemed completely normal. Which meant the reason he’d told himself he was coming back was no longer anything he’d have to worry about. The _real_ reason, though…

“Why are you back so soon?” Caitlin asked. “I thought it’d be weeks before we saw you again.”

He shrugged, getting up and aimlessly wandering the room. “I just wanted to check on things. Make sure everything was still in one piece and you were all…getting along.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You have a new team member,” he said, pointedly.

“He’s sort-of new,” she agreed. “Though in some ways it feels like we’ve known him a long time…you know?”

No, he _didn’t_ know. “So it’s been fine here?” he asked, carefully looking everywhere except at her, all while trying to make it seem like he wasn’t.

“The same as ever,” she said.

“Uh huh,” he turned to the desks, scrutinizing them from a different angle. “Is that monitor in a different place? Did you move it?” He glanced over at her. “Did…HR?”

“I think it’s in the same place it’s always been.”

“Right, obviously.” Something pushed into the corner of the room caught his eye and he pulled it out – it was a different rolling chair. “What is _this_? Don’t tell me it’s always been here.”

“That’s HR’s new chair,” Caitlin told him. “He said it’s ergonomic or something and that the ones we’re using are really poorly designed. He said he’d replace all of them for us! Isn’t that sweet?”

Harrison was aghast. “You’re letting him _buy furniture_?”

She rummaged through a drawer in one of the desks. “Yeah, in fact, he gave me this catalogue where he ordered it from.” She triumphantly pulled it out, handing it to him. “Go ahead, if you want to look through and –”

“Oh, he’s giving you catalogues now?” he sneered, tossing it over his shoulder. “I’m not buying furniture that he recommends, especially if it’s this ridiculous looking.” He sat down in HR’s chair so he could point out how horrible it was, except – “Ahh, it’s so comfortable. Damn it!”

“I know,” Caitlin grinned. “Cisco already tries to steal it whenever HR’s not here. He says his back feels much better after spending a few hours in it as opposed to his own chair.”

“This is all the proof I need that things are going off the rails,” Harrison lamented. “What is wrong with you all, letting the new guy come in and start making major changes –”

“It’s just a chair,” she protested.

“It’s not just a chair, Snow.” He realized too late he was still sitting in it and jumped up as if it were on fire. Then he kicked it back against the wall for good measure. “It’s everything that chair symbolizes!” He started pacing. “Next thing you know he’ll be redecorating the entire building. Hiring new staff. Even kicking you all out and taking over!”

“That’s not going to happen,” Caitlin said flatly, and to his horror, she actually went over and sat down in the brand-new, tremendously comfortable chair. She spun from side to side in it (and she was doing it to mock him, he just knew it). “He’s normal, okay? Well, normal-ish. And he’s made no attempt to take things over.”

Harrison made a concerted effort to turn his anxiety down a notch. Or twelve. “So, things are…” (it actually hurt to suggest it), “working out with him?”

Another smile spread across her face. “Yeah, it’s been great. I admit I had my doubts at first, but now that we’ve gotten to know him better, my worry has pretty much faded.”

“At first?” he questioned. “It’s only been slightly over a week. He sure won you over quick.”

She paused, as if thinking about it. “I guess you could say that; it’s probably because he’s been such a surprisingly good fit with us.”

He turned away from her so she wouldn’t see the expression on his face. “Is that so?” He ran a hand along the desk (and that monitor had been moved, he’d swear it – it _had_ to have been HR).

“Yeah, he was invaluable in capturing the last meta. He’s as brilliant as you are. Not that it’s any surprise.”

He turned back around to face her. “What’s he like?”

She seemed taken aback at his newly serious tone. “Uh…he’s brilliant, like I said. Kind. Funny. Basically, he’s like you, but…quirkier.”

“Quirkier?”

“Not that you’re quirky,” she said, hastily. “He’s just…odd? But in a good way.”

“A good way,” he murmured. “And I was odd in a bad way?”

“That’s not what I said,” she protested, crossing her arms and frowning at him.

“It was implied,” he shot back.

“No, it wasn’t,” she said firmly. And she was watching him far more closely than he liked. He hated it when she did that. It was like…she could _see_ him.

He had to steer away from it. “What about the others? Barry, Cisco, the Wests?”

“They get along fine with him, as far as I’ve seen. But if you’re asking me their opinion of him, I can’t say. You’ll have to talk to them directly.”

“If they like him half as much as you,” he said, trying to keep his tone light, “then I’m sure they’re fawning all over him.”

“I’m not fawning all over him!” she exclaimed.

“Please,” he scoffed – then started to mimic her. “He’s _brilliant_. And _kind_ , and _funny_ , and quirky in a delightful way –”

“I did not say delightful,” she argued, though she was trying not to laugh (and failing).

“I could hear it in your tone,” he insisted. “You wanted to say it.”

“No, I didn’t want to say that.” She was just…looking at him again. Uh oh.

He turned toward the exit. “Okay, so I’ll go talk to the others and –”

He’d never seen her move as fast as she did right then, jumping out of the chair and sprinting over to skid to a stop in front of him, effectively preventing him from leaving the room. “Hold up. Something’s off.”

“With HR?!” he yelled. “I knew it! I’ll help you guys get rid of him and –”

She hit him lightly on the arm. “No, not with him. With you.”

He involuntarily took a step back and affected as innocent a tone as he could manage. “Whatever do you mean?”

She took a step forward. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing – not that there’s an ‘it’, per se, all I mean is…” Where was this going, again? “Leave me alone, Snow.”

“No. You’re not getting out of this room until I get some answers.”

“What are you going to do?” he scoffed. “Lock us in?”

She studied him, assessing, and the look in her eyes reminded him why it was always a wrong move to call her bluff. (He could only attribute his recklessness to how rattled she was making him.)

She reached over to her left, hitting a couple buttons on the nearest keyboard. “Yup. Just locked down the whole building – no one in or out. Thanks for the suggestion.”

“You can’t do that, it’s illegal!” he argued. And in case she’d forgotten, he added, “It’s _my_ lab.”

“You gonna have me arrested?” she challenged. “Besides, you left me and Cisco in charge when you _willingly_ left. Which means, technically, you have no say anymore.”

He scowled at her, going over to punch in his override code. The computer beeped and the monitor flashed ‘invalid code’. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What’d you do, reset it the second I left last week?”

“Not the second. It was a couple minutes later, at least.”

He groaned and fell back into one of the chairs (damn, they really _were_ awful now that he had HR’s chair to compare them to). “If I’m stuck here, then so are you.”

She tilted her head at him. “I can live with that.”

“Don’t you have a date to go on?” he sneered, quickly spinning away in his chair when she sent him a piercing look.

“I wasn’t seeing anyone a week ago. What would make you think that I… Wait, this isn’t about –”

“I know he likes you,” Harrison interrupted, not wanting to hear her say it. “It’s a valid assumption.”

“You think I’d be _dating_ him? Seriously?” Caitlin started laughing and she was _much_ too amused at the prospect, in his opinion.

“It’s not that far-fetched,” he muttered.

“You must be joking,” she said, actually wiping at tears in her eyes. “HR. You think I’m dating HR?”

“God, HR.” Harrison rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s such a _stupid_ name. They’re not even his initials – why wouldn’t he go with HW?”

“Wait, you’re not joking.” Her laughter slowly faded. “And not only are you not joking…you’re –”

“Annoyed,” he said, quickly. “I’m annoyed. That guy is – there’s something off about him.”

“I thought you came around to liking him? Why would you have left if you didn’t think we could trust him?”

“I gave him the benefit of the doubt, a lot of it, because he’s me. In a way. And then I got back to Earth-2 and I started thinking – what do we really know about him? About _any_ of the versions of me that we met? What if he’s…evil?”

“Harry. I really doubt any version of you could be truly evil.”

“That’s a pretty naïve thing to say,” he sighed, leaning back in the chair. “Different lives, different circumstances…they can change people.”

“Maybe,” she allowed, coming over to perch on the edge of the desk in front of him. “But you? I don’t know if I believe it.”

“That’s because you’re a good person, Caitlin Snow.” He reached over to nudge her leg. “Better than all of us.”

“Now who’s being naïve?” she teased. “I could be secretly crazy. Or evil. You never know.”

He looked at her a little too long. “I’d know.”

She smiled at him, and he wondered if it was his imagination that it seemed a little sad. “Why don’t you like HR? Don’t give me any ‘he might be evil’ nonsense. I want to really know why.”

“I don’t know,” he insisted. But he did. “Can’t you trust me on this?”

“Of course I can,” she said, surprising him with her answer. “I’m just trying to understand. Come on,” she prodded, “haven’t I earned that much?”

He let out a deep breath. She was right. And if he were being honest, she’d earned _much_ more than that. “He’s not good enough for you,” he said, finally.

“He’s another version of you!” she exclaimed.

That was exactly the kind of thing that hurt to hear – especially from her. He abruptly pushed his chair back, getting to his feet and pacing away from her. “I know,” he bit out, “and now it’s like I was never here at all, right?”

“Need I remind you that this was your idea? We didn’t want you to leave.” She was obviously getting upset in her own right. “I told you no one would ever replace you. Did you think I was lying?”

“You were trying to be nice. I know you’re not the biggest fan of me, Snow.”

“I wasn’t trying to be nice,” she hissed, getting to her feet and walking a few steps over to him. “I was trying to get you to stay. And you made it pretty clear that there wasn’t enough here to –” She stopped talking when her voice broke.

“What?”

She shrugged, helplessly. “To make you want to stay.”

He froze at that, no idea what to say.

It seemed whatever dam had been holding her back had finally broken, as she continued, “It’s my fault, I know. You never pretended you were going to stay, and you’d already left once before. I know you only came back for Jesse, but I guess I thought that being here, you’d realize how much you…I don’t know. Missed this Earth? Missed us?” She blinked, turning away. “I wasn’t the only one who wanted you to stay, you know. But we should have known better. Nothing’s ever going to make you want to leave your home.”

“You’re so wrong,” he muttered, staring at the floor and running a hand over his face. When he looked back up at her, his voice was stronger. “I didn’t know. I had no idea how much you – all of you – wanted me to stay.”

“How could we have made it any clearer?” she asked, voice wavering. “What else could we have said or done? Short of keeping you prisoner here?”

He looked around the room and then back at her. “Like you’re doing now, you mean?”

Her shoulders slumped and she went back over to hit a button on the keyboard, instantly lifting the lockdown. “You can go.”

“I don’t think I can,” he said, slowly.

“You know,” she said, changing the subject, “HR actually did ask me out. Soon after you left. Want to know why I said no?”

He remembered her words from earlier. “Because he’s basically me.”

“No,” she whispered.

This time it was _his_ turn to look at her as if he could see right through her.

“I didn’t say no because he’s you. I said no because he _wasn’t_.”

He took a few moments to collect himself – he hadn’t ever, _ever_ thought she’d say anything like that to him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he breathed.

“Because I didn’t know,” she said, fighting back tears. “I said before you left that no one would replace you, but I didn’t really understand what it’d be like. It wasn’t until you were gone and I had to come here every day and see HR that I realized how awful it was – to see him and be reminded of you. Sometimes I’ll forget for a moment, and I’ll turn to him, and then I remember – he’s not you. He looks and sounds like you, but it’s like living with an impostor. A fake. He doesn’t look at me the way you do, he doesn’t talk to me the way you do, he’s not the same.” She took a breath. “He’ll never even come _close_.”

“Snow…”

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” she said, laughing a little hysterically. “It doesn’t matter, right? You’re going back and all I’m doing is laying more guilt on you and it’s not…it’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” He reached for her hands and pulled her closer. “You could be describing what I’ve been going through. Except I don’t have a version of you to talk to on Earth-2 and sometimes I think it’d be easier if I did. Because then maybe I wouldn’t _miss you so goddamn much_.”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. “What?”

“Do you know what kind of torture it is back…back there?” he demanded. “I keep trying to call it ‘home’ and I trip over the word every single time. It doesn’t feel like home anymore. _This_ is where I think of when I picture home. And I was so angry at all of you for doing that to me and I thought going back would fix things, that everything would return to the way it used to be, and instead…”

“What?” she whispered.

He gripped her hands tighter. “Instead, every day I was thinking about all of you. About how you guys might need me and I wouldn’t be here. I was thinking about how you were all here with _HR_ ,” he couldn’t help sneering the other man’s name, “having a grand old time and forgetting I even existed. And that he was probably charming you with his whole – _hipster vibe_ or whatever it is that you young people love.”

“Hipster vibe?” she choked out, misery quickly giving way to amusement. “That’s what you think we want?”

“I kept wondering, what if you got used to him? What if, when I moved back, everyone began expecting me to be more like him? Would I have to start a hat collection?” He looked down at her, as if considering. “Would I have to wear _vests_?”

Her attention stopped on one particular thing he’d said, and she couldn’t speak.

“Because I could do it, Snow. I might not like it, but I could probably do it. Hell, HR would probably give me half his wardrobe, he seems like that type of guy.”

She sounded almost hesitant when she asked, “You want to move back?”

“I wish I’d never left in the first place,” he admitted. “What would you think? If I came back?”

“I never wanted you anywhere else,” she said, fighting back tears as she threw her arms around him, sighing with relief when he hugged her in return. She pressed her face into his shoulder. “I kept hoping you’d change your mind and then…you left. And I thought that was it.” She pulled back so she could meet his eyes. “I thought you’d made your choice.”

He laughed a little. “I did. It just happened to be wrong.”

She gripped his arms too tightly, like she was worried he still might disappear on her. “And for the record, you can wear whatever you want. Wear vests every day for the rest of your life, I don’t care, as long as you stay here with –”

He bent down to kiss her, instantly struck by how insanely _right_ she felt. He hadn’t experienced anything like it in…he couldn’t even remember. He ran his hands through her hair and she deepened the kiss, pulling him even closer. There was a hint of desperation in the way she kissed him, almost like she was afraid this might be it for them – like she was afraid he might not stay. He tried to soothe her fears, tried to tell her without words that he wasn’t going anywhere.

And if he did, he was damn well bringing her with him.

He moved his hands to the sides of her face as they eased apart. Her eyes were shut and he took a moment to study her. Caitlin Snow was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever known – and he didn’t mean her appearance, he meant who she was as a person. She could challenge him in ways few others ever had. They could talk about anything, from the theoretical to the mundane. And she wasn’t afraid of him, not even when he was at his worst – in fact, it was those very times when she made him reevaluate, made him _better_.

Looking down at her now, knowing she wanted this, too – that they could _have this_ – meant that whatever precipice he’d been hovering on the edge of, he no longer had to try and hold on. She was enough to make him _want_ to jump off the edge. Willingly.

He had no idea where he’d land, but he knew that wherever it was, he’d be with her. And that was enough.

When she finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, he knew he’d made the right decision. She’d _always_ be his right decision.

“I don’t think you finished your sentence earlier,” he joked, brushing his thumb over her cheek. “You want me to stay here with…”

It took her a moment to process his words and she blinked. “With HR,” she finally said. “I think you could teach him a lot.”

He started laughing; he couldn’t remember ever laughing this much with anyone before in his life. “I can’t believe you’d sentence me to such torture.”

“Well,” she said slowly, as if thinking about it, “I suppose we could spend time together, too.”

“How kind of you.”

“I can probably make some room in my schedule.” She paused. “If you’re really staying, that is.”

“I am,” he promised, brushing his lips against hers again, feeling the weight lift from every decision he’d made that had taken him away from her.

“What about Jesse?” she asked.

“She’s been moping around since we left, hinting she wants to come back to stay for a while.” He frowned. “And I have my suspicions as to why.”

“Wally’s a good kid,” Caitlin said. “She could do a lot worse.”

He shuddered, remembering some of the boys she’d dated in the past. “No kidding. But my point is, she wants to be here as much as I do. I think she considers you guys…”

“What?”

“Family,” he muttered, “…as much as I do.”

He prayed she’d let it go – he should have known better. “Harrison Wells!” she shrieked, pushing him backwards in her sudden excitement. “Are you saying you _love us_? All of us?!”

“I’m not – no one said that. I don’t – Snow!”

“I knew it!” she gasped, rushing around him to the computers. “I’m saving this security footage because otherwise Cisco will _never_ believe me.”

“He was not included in that generalization,” Harrison insisted, turning to look up at the nearest camera. “You’re not included in that, Ramon.”

“He’s lying, Cisco,” Caitlin said to the camera, in a sing-song tone, and he could do nothing more than uselessly protest while she saved the footage.

As he watched her continue to gloat, he could hardly remember why he’d been so insistent on leaving in the first place. Had it been mostly to prove a point? To try and convince himself he’d be fine without her? Without all of them? Because he could admit now that he _wasn’t_ fine without them. And he had a feeling he never would be again.

Strangely enough, that thought didn’t terrify him the way it used to.

Caitlin was smiling at him and everything was right in his world in a way it hadn’t been for a long time. He crossed the room, intent on telling her as much – right after he kissed her again – and he’d just pressed his mouth to hers when loud clapping from the doorway startled them both.

Harrison looked over to find…oh great.

“Am I interrupting?” HR asked, disingenuously, as he grinned widely at them – and it wasn’t even smirking, it was just a genuine, happy smile. What was _wrong_ with that guy?

“You’re definitely interrupting,” Harrison informed him.

“No, you’re not,” Caitlin said, and if it was an invitation, it was one the other man didn’t need, as HR was already settling himself into that stupid ergonomic chair.

“Harry, you didn’t tell me that you and the lovely Dr. Snow were…an item.” He winked at Caitlin who’d started to blush the slightest bit.

Harrison glared at him. “Can you not talk about her? Or me? Or us? Know what, just stop talking altogether.”

“By all means, you can go back to kissing if you want. I’m very open-minded, that kind of thing doesn’t bother me,” HR said, as they both just looked at him. “No? Okay.”

“Did you want something?” Harrison was trying valiantly to tamp down on his annoyance.

“Am I sensing some hostility?” HR asked, sounding hurt. “Harry, I hope you know that I never would have asked her out if I knew you two were together.” He paused to tip his hat at Caitlin. “Though if the lovely lady wants someone who looks like you to keep her company while you’re away, I wouldn’t mind.”

“You wouldn’t _mind_?” Harrison repeated, as Caitlin quickly stepped in front of him.

“That’s so generous of you, HR,” she said. “But I’ll have to pass.”

“Your loss, my lady.”

Caitlin turned to look up at Harrison. “Tell me again how you thought I’d be dating him.” She gestured to HR who was studying himself in the reflection of one of the monitors. “ _Him_!”

HR had clearly overheard. “Why wouldn’t he think that, Caitie?”

“ _Caitie_?” Harrison muttered into her ear, as she stifled her laughter. The nickname felt so wrong to him.

HR prattled on, oblivious. “I mean, he obviously knows the type you find irresistible. No worries, though, Harry. When she inevitably throws herself at me from missing you too much, I’ll console her. And I won’t step over any lines.” He smiled at Caitlin again. “Unless, of course, she asks me to.”

“You can go back to your own Earth now,” Harrison told him, pointing toward the exit.

“Wait a minute,” HR abruptly sat up straighter in the chair. “Does that mean you’re staying?”

“Indefinitely,” Harrison confirmed.

HR looked between them, sobering. “So you’re kicking me out? I get it.”

“Wish I could say it was nice knowing you,” Harrison added, debating whether or not to kick the other man’s chair toward the exit.

“We’re not saying you _have_ to leave,” Caitlin said, glancing at Harrison warily, as if she could see his thoughts. “We’re just saying it’d be fine for you to go back to your own Earth since we don’t…need you anymore?”

“That’s cold,” HR sighed, getting to his feet. “You might have a point, though. I left a lot of loose ends before I came here. Not that any of them makes me inclined to return – quite the opposite, actually.”

“Loose ends?” Harrison asked, suspiciously, as Caitlin linked her arm with his – to anyone else, it would have looked like she was showing affection, but he knew the move was to keep him restrained depending on what HR might say next.

HR ignored his question, though, suddenly brightening. “Hey, Harry, do you have a Caitlin on your Earth? I’m wondering if we’re star-crossed lovers and meant to be. I’d love an introduction.”

“I think she’s gone now,” Caitlin said, quickly, and Harrison slid his hand down to grasp hers. He knew all too well what had happened with Garrick and Killer Frost. “Why don’t you look for her on your Earth, HR? Just…be careful.”

“Yeah,” Harrison began, cautiously. No matter how much he might dislike the guy, he didn’t actually want to send him into the hands of a potential killer. “Your Caitlin Snow could be a little…frosty.”

“Ha, I get it, because her last name’s ‘Snow’ right?” HR pointed between the two of them. “You guys are so witty!”

“Uh…we meant more personality-wise?” Caitlin hedged.

HR waved her off. “Please, I’m practically a pro at that,” he said, confidently. “As my three ex-wives can attest.”

“Are those your loose ends?” Harrison asked, relaxing a little.

“You know it,” HR nodded, turning to Caitlin. “But I’m quite open to making one of _your_ doppelgangers my beautiful fourth wife.”

“She’d be so lucky,” Harrison muttered, rubbing his free hand over his eyes.

Caitlin tilted her head at HR, as if considering, and Harrison looked down at her sternly, silently asking, _You can’t be considering this?_

“I’m not afraid of a cool personality,” HR assured them, and it was pretty clear he’d already made up his mind that he was going to look for her no matter what they said or did. “I’m sure I could melt her heart.”

“You know what…you might be right,” Caitlin said, slowly grinning at him. And when Harrison put his arm around her shoulders, she added, “If anyone could do it, I bet it’d be you, HR.”

“It’s a plan!” HR announced, enthusiastically, as he left the room, apparently more eager than ever to return home now that he had something to look forward to.

“We have to give him a real warning,” Harrison told her, once he was gone.

“We will before he leaves. I have a feeling we’re not going to dissuade him, though.”

“Probably not,” he agreed. “I don’t blame him, either. Why wouldn’t he want you? Or rather, any version of you he can get.”

“I _am_ pretty great,” she smirked. “Besides, the odds are she’d probably be more like me than not.”

“In which case we’ve just saddled one of your lovely doppelgangers with…HR.” He shut his eyes. “And if so, I expect Earth-19 Caitlin to come storming through the breach within a couple months to ask us what the hell we were thinking.”

“More like she’d come to thank us,” Caitlin laughed. “He’s really not as bad as you make him out to be. She could be a pretty lucky girl.”

“No, _he’d_ be the lucky one in that equation,” Harrison countered, “but not luckier than me.”

She pretended to scowl at him. “Are we really going to stand here and argue over who among us is the luckiest?”

“What else do you propose we do?” he teased.

In answer, she leaned up and kissed him again.

Yeah, he could get on board with that.


End file.
